The Azuri continued staring at Arthur.
Without looking away.
Without blinking.
The entire hall remained frozen.
The Zaraqnil Queen.
The hidden warriors.
The other three Azuri.
Even the air itself seemed motionless.
As though that memory had ceased to exist.
Arthur felt a chill run through his very essence.
The black hands still clung to his body.
His leg.
His arm.
His neck.
His chest.
The pain burned deeper with every passing second.
But the Azuri simply watched him.
Then...
He took a step.
No.
He simply appeared in front of Arthur.
So close that their faces were nearly touching.
Arthur's eyes widened.
None of this made sense.
This was only a memory.
A fragment of the past.
It should never have noticed him.
Much less spoken to him.
The Azuri tilted his head slightly.
His voice echoed as though it were crossing every dimension at once.
— Who are you?
Silence.
— What are you doing here?
Arthur opened his mouth.
No sound came out.
The black hands tightened even more.
The Azuri continued observing him.
— Are you spying on us?
Arthur tried to answer.
— I...
But before he could continue...
The Azuri narrowed his eyes.
Something changed.
A faint blue ripple flowed across his body.
Then he smiled.
Very slightly.
— Ah...
— Wait.
He leaned even closer.
Like someone studying a reflection.
— I know this essence.
Arthur remained motionless.
— Interesting...
The Azuri took a small step back.
— You...
— Are one of us.
Arthur froze.
— No...
The Azuri continued.
— Not exactly.
His gaze grew even deeper.
— You are one of us...
— In the future.
The entire ocean seemed to tremble.
Even the countless memories surrounding them vibrated.
Arthur couldn't believe what he was hearing.
— So...
The Azuri slowly crossed his arms.
— We truly failed to eliminate the threat.
His voice carried neither sorrow...
Nor disappointment.
Only certainty.
— We found another way.
He smiled once again.
— How fascinating.
Arthur finally managed to speak.
— I...
— I don't understand...
The Azuri raised one hand.
— Of course you don't.
— You haven't recovered his memories yet.
Silence.
— But your essence...
— Remains exactly the same.
Arthur felt his heart race.
— Who... are you?
The Azuri did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at his own hands.
— We...
— Made a pact long ago.
His eyes returned to Arthur.
— We exist to create.
— To preserve.
— To observe.
— To maintain balance.
— Never to rule.
— Never to destroy.
His voice remained perfectly calm.
— We create new forms of life.
— We assist the evolution of the universe.
— We correct small imperfections whenever necessary.
— But we never govern what we create.
Arthur listened in silence.
The black hands continued crushing his body.
The pain grew worse.
The Azuri continued.
— Every living being carries a part of us.
He placed a hand against his own chest.
— Our bodies possess no flesh.
— No blood.
— We are composed entirely of dimensional energy.
Soft blue light flowed across his body.
Gentle.
Peaceful.
— Within that energy exists the complete structure of every living being in the universe.
— Every species.
— Every race.
— Every possibility.
Arthur frowned.
— Then...
— Did you create every race?
— No.
The Azuri answered immediately.
— We merely offer possibilities.
— The universe chooses which ones will flourish.
Silence.
Then he looked at Arthur once again.
For a long time.
— But you...
His expression showed genuine curiosity.
— You are different.
He stepped closer.
Now he stood almost against Arthur.
— Very different.
His blue eyes examined every detail.
— Your composition...
He slowly raised one hand toward Arthur's face.
Without touching him.
Simply observing.
— Has become far more physical.
— Far denser.
— Far more material.
He smiled.
— Fascinating.
— We never imagined one of our future reincarnations would reach such a state.
Arthur struggled to breathe.
The black hands burned more intensely.
The Azuri finally seemed to notice them.
His gaze slowly lowered.
Until it reached those hands.
His face remained serene.
But his voice changed.
— So that's what happened...
Arthur tried to speak.
— They're...
— Burning...
— Me...
The Azuri nodded.
— I know.
Then he looked back into Arthur's eyes.
— Tell me.
— From what era did you come?
Arthur remained silent.
He didn't know the answer himself.
The Azuri smiled.
— Naturally.
— You don't know.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
— We ten...
His voice became older.
Heavier.
— Imposed a law upon ourselves.
He opened his eyes.
— Never interfere with time.
Arthur listened carefully.
— Time...
— Is also a dimension.
— And we possess authority over every dimension.
A small blue sphere appeared above his palm.
Countless glowing lines intertwined within it.
— We could alter any event.
— Prevent wars.
— Stop catastrophes.
— Save entire worlds.
The sphere vanished.
— Yet we never did.
— Because a universe remains true only while its history remains singular.
Arthur stood frozen.
The Azuri continued.
— We never sought the future.
— We never allowed contact between our own future selves.
— We never looked upon what had yet to happen.
His gaze deepened.
— Because doing so would shatter our own timeline.
Silence.
— So...
He looked directly at Arthur.
— How did you reach this place?
The black hands tightened once again.
Arthur cried out in pain.
At last, the Azuri extended his hand.
It slowly passed through the black smoke.
The hands tried to seize him.
But they vanished the instant they touched his blue skin.
Like snow melting beneath sunlight.
Then...
His hand rested against Arthur's chest.
A brilliant blue light erupted.
Arthur felt every trace of pain disappear.
The black hands began to dissolve.
One after another.
Turning into tiny fragments of darkness.
Until nothing remained.
The entire ocean glowed.
Arthur glowed as well.
Both of them stood bathed within the same light.
The Azuri closed his eyes.
As though listening to something unimaginably distant.
Then...
He smiled.
This time...
It was genuine.
— Now I understand.
Arthur could breathe normally again.
— You...
The Azuri opened his eyes.
— Are the reincarnation of our leader.
Silence.
Arthur froze.
— How many reincarnations have we lived through...
The Azuri gazed into the endless ocean.
— Countless.
— Far more than any civilization could ever measure.
His eyes returned to Arthur.
— Yet in the end...
— We are still ourselves.
He placed his hand over his chest.
— Memories change.
— Lives change.
— Names change.
— But essence remains.
Arthur clenched his fists.
— Then...
— Am I him?
The Azuri slowly shook his head.
— Yes.
— And no.
Silence.
— You are the same existence.
— But not the same memories.
— Not the same individual.
— Only the same living essence.
Arthur remained speechless.
The Azuri suddenly frowned.
As though discovering something new.
His hand remained pressed against Arthur's chest.
Their connection deepened.
Far beyond normal.
His eyes widened.
For the first time.
— I see...
His voice became barely a whisper.
— So that's what happened...
He inhaled slowly.
— The universe...
— Was divided.
Arthur felt an icy sensation pierce his soul.
— What...?
The Azuri closed his eyes once more.
Images flashed before him at impossible speed.
Thousands.
Millions.
Then he opened them again.
— The moment she died...
Arthur froze.
Mia.
— Your essence collapsed.
— It wasn't merely grief.
— It was a fracture.
His voice echoed across the endless ocean.
— The original universe continued to exist.
— But at that very instant...
— A second reality was born.
He looked directly into Arthur's eyes.
— Not another universe.
— An imperfect copy.
— A path born from your refusal to accept that moment.
Arthur felt his legs weaken.
— Everyone within that world possesses the same memories.
— The same history.
— The same lives.
— Yet none of them should exist.
Silence.
— It is an incomplete universe.
— A reflection.
— A shadow of true creation.
The Azuri gently pressed his hand against Arthur's chest once more.
More knowledge poured into Arthur's mind.
— And when you were mortally wounded...
— Your essence partially left your body.
— It reached the corruption within Queen Zaraqnil.
— It touched her memories.
— And that is how you arrived here.
Arthur's breathing became heavier.
The Azuri continued.
— But that created another problem.
His expression became serious.
— Whenever one of the pillars of the original universe disappears...
— Even temporarily...
— The secondary universe is no longer repelled.
Arthur's eyes widened.
— Then...
The Azuri nodded.
— The other version of you...
— Was pushed into the true universe.
Silence.
— He did not invade.
— He merely occupied the emptiness your absence created.
Arthur immediately remembered [Arthur].
The crimson eye.
The black smoke.
The hatred.
The Azuri sighed.
— Fortunately...
— You still possess one advantage.
He smiled.
— You still belong to the original universe.
— Once you return...
— The other one will gradually begin to be rejected.
Arthur clenched his fists.
— So all I have to do is wait?
The Azuri slowly shook his head.
— No.
His voice grew heavy.
— At this moment...
— He is far stronger than you.
Silence.
— Alone...
— You cannot drive him out.
The Azuri slowly raised his other hand.
A small blue flame appeared above his palm.
It did not burn.
It breathed.
As though it were alive.
— Then...
— Allow an old friend to offer you one small gift.
The flame passed through Arthur's chest.
Without pain.
Without violence.
Only warmth.
An indescribable power spread throughout his body.
Arthur felt something awaken.
Something ancient.
Something familiar.
The Azuri smiled.
— Your future has drifted far beyond everything we once planned.
— We were meant to stand together again.
— But events that occurred long before this reincarnation changed everything.
He looked at Arthur one last time.
— Even so...
— I still believe in you.
Arthur lowered his head.
The Azuri slowly turned away.
Then...
He stopped.
His entire body stiffened.
Something had changed.
He remained perfectly still.
Silence returned.
Arthur noticed immediately.
Something was wrong.
The Azuri stared into empty space.
As though someone stood behind Arthur.
His voice lost all of its serenity.
— No...
Arthur quickly turned around.
There was nothing there.
— What is it?
The Azuri stepped backward.
For the first time...
He seemed frightened.
— She...
Arthur frowned.
— Who?
The Azuri continued staring into the void.
— She has found you...
His voice faltered.
— Stay away...
— You must flee from...
Suddenly...
Something began pushing outward from his forehead.
Four fingers slowly emerged through his blue skin.
Arthur froze.
The fingers continued growing.
Then...
An entire hand emerged from the Azuri's forehead.
It slowly slid across his own face.
Its thumb gripped his chin.
The remaining fingers pressed against his cheek.
His forehead.
His eye.
The Azuri tried to continue speaking.
— She is...
CRAAACK.
His face began to split apart.
Blue fragments broke away like shattered glass.
His entire body started decomposing.
The hand continued squeezing his face.
As though tearing away his very existence.
The Azuri made one final attempt to reach toward Arthur.
— Don't let...
His voice vanished.
His body dissolved into countless luminous particles.
And the memory...
Exploded.
BOOOOOOOOM.
Everything disappeared.
Arthur was hurled back into the dark ocean.
Spinning.
Out of control.
Blue energy still surrounded his body.
He gasped for air.
— What... was that...?
Silence answered him.
Then...
An enormous hand appeared before him.
Far larger than any of the previous ones.
It simply extended one finger.
Arthur's eyes widened.
— Wait...
The finger bent backward.
Like someone preparing to flick him.
And then—
THOOOOOOOM.
The finger struck Arthur square in the forehead with overwhelming force.
The entire darkness exploded.
And everything vanished.